Stop Congress From Stalling on Service Dogs for Veterans

Final signature count: 153

153 signatures toward our 30,000 goal

Every day, veterans living with post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, vision loss, and other service-connected conditions wait — sometimes for years — for a trained service dog that research shows can genuinely help them heal. These animals are not pets. They are medical tools: trained to interrupt nightmares, detect seizures, guide their handlers through crowds, and restore independence that combat took away. The demand for them is enormous. The supply is not keeping up.

What the SAVES Act Would Do

S. 1441, the Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act, would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a competitive grant program for nonprofit organizations that breed, train, and place service dogs with eligible veterans — covering the full pipeline from start to follow-up care.³ Veterans with PTSD, TBI, hearing loss, visual impairments, and other service-connected disabilities would qualify. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Thom Tillis and Blumenthal, with companion legislation in the House led by Representatives Luttrell and McGarvey.¹ Senator Jon Ossoff joined as a cosponsor in April 2026.⁷

The Scale of the Problem

Training a single psychiatric service dog costs more than $20,000 and takes roughly two years.⁵ The nonprofits doing this work typically provide dogs at no cost to veterans, covering the full expense through donations and grants. That model works at small scale — it cannot reach the hundreds of thousands of veterans who carry qualifying diagnoses across the roughly 20 million veterans in the United States.⁵

The outcomes justify the investment. Veterans paired with service dogs report measurable reductions in PTSD symptoms, decreased reliance on medication, and a stronger ability to manage daily life.⁶ These are documented results — not anecdotes — and they point to a clear return on what this grant program would cost.

Broad Support, One Remaining Step

The SAVES Act has already cleared the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs with bipartisan backing.⁴ Major veterans service organizations, including DAV, have voiced support.⁶ K9s For Warriors — one of the country's largest service dog providers for veterans — is on record in favor.⁸ USAA has backed the effort as well. In December 2025, senators, House members, and VSOs issued a joint call urging Congress to send the bill to a full floor vote before the end of session.²

That vote has not happened. The bill sits one floor vote away from becoming law. Veterans who earned this support are still on waitlists while a fully vetted, bipartisan solution waits for Senate leadership to act.

One Action Can Move This Forward

The Senate Majority Leader has the authority to bring S. 1441 to the floor. The bill is written, committee-approved, and backed across party lines. All it needs is a vote.

Sign the petition now and urge the Senate Majority Leader to bring the Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act to the Senate floor for a full vote — without further delay.